Chicago Cubs vs San Francisco Giants Box Score on Aug 08, 2017

The Sports Xchange
Aug 9, 2017

SAN FRANCISCO -- Buster Posey supplied early offense with a three-run homer in the first inning and starting pitcher Ty Blach was strong again as the San Francisco Giants beat the Chicago Cubs 6-3 on Tuesday night.

Despite losing for only the second time on the road over its last 14 games, Chicago maintained a 1 1/2-game lead in the Central Division over Milwaukee, which lost at Minnesota.

Blach (8-7) allowed two runs while scattering seven hits and striking out three. With 100 pitches thrown upon exit, he went at least seven innings for the fifth straight game.

The 26-year-old did something few left-handers have accomplished against the Cubs this season -- he beat them. Chicago is 19-8 against southpaws, the best mark in the majors.

Reliever Sam Dyson saved his seventh game in eight tries since joining the Giants with a scoreless ninth.

Trailing 4-1 after five innings, the Cubs scored in the sixth on back-to-back doubles by Willson Contreras and Ian Happ. But the Giants retaliated in the seventh on Joe Panik's fielder's choice grounder to plate Kelby Tomlinson.

Happ delivered a sacrifice fly in the eighth, but San Francisco's Brandon Crawford singled to score Posey to reset its three-run margin.

The Giants broke on top when Posey launched his 12th homer of the season, into the first row of the left field bleachers.

Giants ambushed Chicago starter Jose Quintana (6-10 overall, 2-2 with the Cubs) at the outset as four of their first five batters reached base. Gorkys Hernandez slapped a first-pitch leadoff single to left. Hunter Pence reached one batter later when shortstop Javier Baez booted a double-play grounder.

Posey picked on Quintana's first offering to make it 3-0 on a play that stood following review as his home-run ball caromed off the hands of a fan not judged to be reaching over the fence.

Blach's two-out single to right plated Crawford in the fourth for a 4-0 lead before the Cubs broke through an inning later when Jon Jay's infield out enabled Jason Heyward to score from third.

NOTES: The Cubs' streak of having allowed three or fewer runs on the road ended at 11 straight games, the longest such streak in the majors this season, according to STATS. ... 2B Joe Panik replaced Giants rookie Miguel Gomez in the top of the second inning. Gomez hurt himself running out a ground ball to short during his only at-bat in the first. ... Cubs 1B Anthony Rizzo celebrated his 28th birthday by going 1-for-4 with a fourth-inning single. ... Chicago RHP Koji Uehara left the game with a trainer after facing two batters in the seventh.